Can't figure out how to setup RTL_433 (next) and Auto Discovery to talk to MQTT

Configuration
1

After scouring posts in these forums, watching a few youtube videos, I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing that is not allowing my 433 Mhz devices to be discovered by MQTT despite them showing up in the logs.

Currently I’m using rtl_433 (next) with the following YAML config (provided by Chat GPT):

rtl_433_conf_file: ""
retain: false
frequency: 433920000
protocols: []
devices: []
input_args:
  - "-f 433920000"
output_args:
  - "-F"
  - json
  - "-F"
  - >-
    mqtt://192.168.0.11:1883,user=mqtt_user,pass=mqtt_password,retain=0,devices=rtl_433/debug

In the Logs it’s able to find my neighbour’s Acurite sensor:

[rtl_433] time      : 2025-05-27 10:03:46
[rtl_433] model     : Acurite-609TXC                         id        : 74
[rtl_433] Battery   : 1            Temperature: 21.3 C       Humidity  : 52 %          status    : 1             Integrity : CHECKSUM

As well as my PIR 433Mhz sensor (after I wave my hand in front of it):

[rtl_433] time      : 2025-05-27 10:04:45
[rtl_433] model     : Generic-Remote
[rtl_433] House Code: 20673
[rtl_433] Command   : 135
[rtl_433] Tri-State : ZZ00100ZX0Z1

in RTL_433 Auto Discovery this is how the config is set up:

master: false
mqtt_host: 192.168.0.11
mqtt_port: 1883
mqtt_user: mqtt_user
mqtt_password: mqtt_password
mqtt_retain: true
rtl_topic: rtl_433/+/+/events
device_topic_suffix: ""
discovery_prefix: homeassistant
discovery_interval: 600
force_update: false
log_level: default

The topic went from rtl_433/+ to rtl_433/+/+/events after going back and forth trying to troubleshoot this with ChatGPT.

in MQTT Explorer this is how I have it set up to connect:

Screenshot 2025-05-27 at 10.17.50 AM
Screenshot 2025-05-27 at 10.17.50 AM853×444 30.1 KB

and this is all it’s able to find under RTL_433 in terms of topics:

Screenshot 2025-05-27 at 10.20.17 AM
Screenshot 2025-05-27 at 10.20.17 AM1282×606 41.3 KB

The device there is the PIR 433 Mhz sensor, but it’s only showing availability (online and offline) and not the device info that shows the House and Command codes as shown above from the RTL_433 logs.

Chat GPT has me spinning around in circles and I’m sure there’s something I’m completely neglecting here.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

2

Hello,

Have you been able to solve this?

This is driving me crazy for couple of days now… I tried both addons:

  • rtl_433 MQTT Auto Discovery
  • rtl_433 MQTT Auto Discovery (next)
    with same (zero, null, nada) results.

I configured my rtl_433 daemon with following output, as instructed in the addon README:

ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '/usr/local/bin/rtl_433 -F mqtt://X.Y.Z.Ź:1883,user=user,pass=pass,retain=1,devices=rtl_433/localhost/devices[/type][/model][/subtype]/C[channel:0],events=rtl_433/localhost/events -Y autolevel -Y minmax -Y magest -M level -M noise -M time

Then in the addon config I provided:

rtl_topic: rtl_433/localhost
device_topic_suffix: devices[/type][/model][/subtype]/C[channel:0]

but nothing is happening.

In the addon log there is nothing more than this (plus some “pings” after turning on DEBUG):

Starting rtl_433_mqtt_hass.py...
[2025-08-30T23:45:33+0200] INFO:root:Discovering all devices
[2025-08-30T23:45:34+0200] INFO:root:MQTT connected: Connection Accepted.
[2025-08-30T23:45:34+0200] INFO:root:Subscribing to: rtl_433/localhost

Devices are there but they do not show up in the MQTT devices list in HAOS:

obraz
obraz349×240 7.26 KB

I tried 746359374 combinations for the

rtl_topic:
device_topic_suffix:

but just nothing seems to work :frowning:

Can any kind soul who made it work share their rtl_433 daemon and Auto Discovery settings?

3

@lslomczynski hey! unfortunately I haven’t attempted again since my OP. I was gonna start up again in a few days, but from the sounds of it, we might still be stuck in the same position?

4

Looks like it :frowning:

In act of desperation I had a run with ChatGPT about this. It led to simplifying the rtl_433 output configuration, so it looks like this now:

-F mqtt://IP:1883,user=user,pass=pass,retain=0,devices=rtl_433[/model][/id],events=rtl_433/events

And gives following MQTT output:

obraz
obraz259×346 6.9 KB

But regardless of mqtt_topic and device_topic_suffix values I was suggested nothing worked :frowning: Couple of examples:

mqtt_topic: rtl_433
device_topic_suffix: +/+/
device_topic_suffix: /+/+/
device_topic_suffix: /+/+
device_topic_suffix: /+
device_topic_suffix: +

I’m getting to a point where I am considering to give up as I would configure those devices manually in a small piece of time I already wasted but… I do not like to give up :wink: